From the about the 6th century BC to the 5th century AD, Gandhara was a small community on the Silk Road from China to Rome. It was located near the border of modern Pakistan and Afghanistan just east of the Khyber Pass. Its capital, Taxila, was 20 miles from present day Islamabad. It was subject to frequent invasions, being ruled by the Persian, Greeks and others before being finally destroyed by the Huns. Alexander the Great conquered Gandhara in 326 BC. It was in Gandhara that Mahayana Buddhism began to emerge from the earlier Theravada Buddhism.

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During the Archaic period (700-480 BC), pottery was decorated in black and red by firing different clays together (not by painting). Up to about 530BC, the decoration was done in black on a red background; after 530 BC, the decoration was done in red on a black background. The heads of all figures on these pots are drawn at the same level.

From the middle of the fifth century BC, a technique was developed for producing painted purple, brown and red characters in white. This was less durable and, so, was mainly used on ritual vessels. From this time also, an attempt was made to indicate depth by showing figures raised above the ground but there was no use of size for perspective.

 Greek sculpture of the Archaic period (700 - 480 B.C.) resembles Egyptian in the rigid frontal pose. But, without the Egyptian concern for permanence, the stone block is missing - and the figure is usually nude.

Classical Greek sculpture (480 - 323 B.C.) was concerned mainly with proportion and expressing an ideal. All parts of the figure are composed to achieve the most variety within a complete whole.

During the late Classical and Hellenistic periods (323 - 30 B.C.) figures became increasingly human and less formal.

The desire for literalness, together with the custom of keeping in the home the "imagines" of ancestors (usually in wax), influenced Roman sculptors to emphasise individual traits almost to the point of caricature. During the Imperial period, beginning with Augustus (27 B.C.), there was a conscious attempt to bring about a cultural renewal based on Greek ideals.

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 The Assyrians mainly produced relief sculptures of narrative scenes.

A brief resurgence of Babylonian culture produced some great architectural works including the Hanging Gardens and the Temple of Bel (possibly, the Biblical Tower of Babel).

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Dynastic Period	Early Dynastic Period	1st & 2nd Dynasties	3100 - 2686 BC
	Old Kingdom	3rd to 6th Dynasties	2686 - 2181 BC
	First Intermediate Period	7th to 10th Dynasties	2181 - 2050 BC
	Middle Kingdom	11th & 12th Dynasties	2050 - 1750 BC
	Second Intermediate Period	13th to 17th Dynasties	1750 - 1657 BC
	New Kingdom	18th to 20th Dynasties	1657 - 1085 BC
	Late Kingdom	21st to 24th Dynasties	1085 - 715 BC
	Late Period	25th to 30th Dynasties	715 to 332 BC
Ptolemaic Period			832 to 30 BC

• Imhotep (architect of the pyramids) lived in the 3rd Dynasty
• Cheops was the 2nd King of the 4th Dynasty
• Pepi 11 was the last King of the 6th Dynasty
• Akhenaton and Tutenkhamen lived in the 18th Dynasty
• Rameses 11 was the 3rd King of the 19th Dynasty
• With the death of Cleopatra in 30BC, Egypt became a Roma province.

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Glass making in Europe made no advances for almost a thousand years after the fall of the Roman Empire. But in the Middle East, particularly in Syria, the industry remained active. With the establishment of the Islamic Empire in the seventh century, an Islamic style developed. In the eighth and ninth centuries, engraved and cut decoration was used. From the thirteenth century, a characteristic Islamic style of enamel painting, frequently with inscriptions in red, blue and white, appeared. Lamps, tall, narrow beakers and long-necked bottles were the most common items. Syria remained an important centre but glass wares were also made in Egypt, Mesopotamia and Persia. In Egypt, heraldic motifs, such as cups or eagles set in medallions, were often included in the decoration along with the script used elsewhere.

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The basic components of glass are silica (sand), soda (or potash) and lime. The silica, when melted by heat, forms the glass; the soda acts as a flux to allow the glass to melt at a lower temperature; and the lime is a stabiliser.

The combination can be modified. Lead oxide used as the flux makes the glass less brittle and more stable but harder to work when hot. Various oxides and silicates add colour. Tin oxide makes the glass opaque.

By 2000BC, Egyptian craftsman were skilled at making glass articles. They developed four techniques:

• Glass jars were moulded around cores of mud or straw. This technique was common by the 18th Dynasty (1567-1320 BC). This technique can produce objects formed from bands of coloured glass.
• Glass was cooled and then carved and polished to the desired shape. The glass was often coloured to resemble a semi-precious stone. This technique was known for many centuries but became widespread in the eighth century BC.
• Molten glass was poured into a mould. Sometimes a ground paste of glass was poured into a mould and then melted.
• Small pieces of glass were laid together into a mould and fused together by firing.

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